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Two Thirds Down (Besançon to Dole)

Easy ride along the river and canal today, pretty much dead level for the whole 60km. We’re somewhere near the two-thirds mark of the trip, both in terms of time – just over two weeks left – and distance – about 700km of 2300 left to go!

Dole is the home of Louis Pasteur, he of pasteurization and the rabies cure. The medieval/Renaissance quarter is well preserved and we got a guided tour of it, about two hours long, courtesy of the local government.

Before the tour, though, I had to deal with the first (hopefully only!) bike repair of the trip: I’ve worn through the tread on my rear tire thanks to the load on the bike and hundreds of kilometres of unpaved trails since Vienna. The red liner centre liner of the tire was showing in dashes around most of the tire. Thankfully the local bike club volunteers had met us at our hostel and one of them rode with us out to the nearby good bike store, where twenty Euro and about five minutes in the shop got me a new Michelin tire.

Dole is a neat little city to visit, but the local hostel, the Foyer St. Jean, is… interesting. The rooms and bed linens are are clean, but the whole place needs maintenance and a scrub – burned out lightbulbs, peeling paint in the bathrooms and hallways, and disorganized staff – no room assignments when our group rocked up, just a disinterested staffer telling everyone to find their own bed, that any unlocked room was available.

I’ve never been in a hostel that didn’t bother assigning beds/rooms before. Really odd.

Off to the small town of Suerre tomorrow, with a short ride of under 50km along the river and canal again.